


Sacrifice

by kiyala



Category: Legend of Zelda: The Ocarina of Time
Genre: Community: 500themes, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-05-25
Updated: 2010-05-25
Packaged: 2017-10-12 02:29:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,723
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/119792
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kiyala/pseuds/kiyala
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sacrifices are necessary. Link, of all people, knows this well.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Sacrifice

**Author's Note:**

> Written for [**500themes**](http://communities.livejournal.com/500themes>), for theme #1: the vacuum of time

  
Sacrifices are necessary. Link knows this well. He's accepted it. Just like he's accepted the fact that as far as the safety of Hyrule is concerned, he is the sacrifice.

He's okay with this; he's thought about it for a long time – in the breaks between fighting monsters and navigating old temples with the weight of the world on his shoulders and in the constant lull that Hyrule lives in, now that Ganon is sealed away.

He knows better than to miss the days when he struggled to survive, but he can't help but miss the feeling of being useful. Of course, he is now celebrated as a hero. Princess Zelda and all of the sages do what they can to ensure their Hero is given his due. Only they know what he has lost.

Still, he finds himself alone with his thoughts far more often than can be healthy. At first, he paces the room he has been given in the castle, and then moves to the library.

There, the books intimidate him. As a child in the Kokiri Forest, he'd learned only the rudimentary reading and writing and he'd had little time to practice either when Hyrule needed him. He opens books to words that make no sense to him, but Link is not the type of person to avoid the unknown. Especially when it scares him.

The Princess helps him when she finds the time between ruling a kingdom and working to repair the damage seven years of terror had caused. As he learns to make more sense of the words he reads, his own thoughts begin to make more sense too. They adopt a more philosophical tone, to match the books he works through and once again, he finds himself thinking more.  
Finally, his thoughts get louder until he needs to get out, to somewhere else. Initially, he takes a walk to be somewhere without walls. How this leads him to the Temple of Time, he is unsure, but he knows from the moment he crosses the threshold that this is where he needs to be.

The back chamber of the temple, housing the pedestal for the Master Sword, feels far removed from the bustle of the market just outside. It is calming and peaceful, and it's almost as if the stone walls have captured the echoes of monks and scholars from ages past. Link takes a seat on the cold stone steps, facing the back wall. This place, like Princess Zelda's garden, like the Deku Tree meadow, defines his beginning. An appropriate place, he thinks, to reflect on what has become of his life.

He shuts his eyes and lets his mind wander. From everything he's learned about himself since that fateful day when the Deku Tree had summoned him, he's well aware that much of what has happened in his life was simply destined to be. Being brought away from the Kokiri Forest, being told of his Hyrulean background, before he simple aged to the point where it was no longer a secret – he doubts it is simple chance. Strengthening the ties between the different races must have done some good; Link reflects on what he'd been told of the Unifying War by the Deku Tree, unable to think of the Gorons and Zoras and Hyruleans at war, and decides that anything to ensure they all remain allied is good.

He is so absorbed in his thoughts that he is shocked to his feet as he hears a voice addressing him, "Troubled, Hero?"

His sword is in his hand, tip pointed at the throat of an unflinching figure in the deep shadows. He frowns, tightening his grip on his sword, but lowering it.

"Princess?"

He is answered by a deep chuckle, undeniably masculine.

"Who are you?"

"I am Sheik. Survivor of the Sheikah." There is a brief pause. "…That feels very familiar."

"Sheik is… is…"

"The Princess?" the Sheikah suggests, his visible eye watching Link carefully. "I'm just her disguise. Nothing more. Isn't that right?"

Link frowns. The Princess is occupied in the royal court, attending to business. Even if she isn't busy, she wouldn't play a trick like this. He thinks he knows her well enough to be sure of that. Which leaves the Sheikah in front of him and several questions.

"Who are you?" he asks again, but then amends. "No – who is Sheik?"

"Did you know that the Sheikah were once an entire tribe devoted to the protection of the royal family?" Sheik asks. "They kept to the shadows, concerning themselves with little other than their duty. I am a shadow, Hero."

"A shadow," Link repeats. Despite his problems with reading and writing, he still thinks quickly. "There were two of you."

"Sheik," a bandaged hand indicates the vague direction of Hyrule Castle. Then he places it on his chest. "And Sheik's shadow."

"You're real."

Sheik smiles under the material covering his mouth. "I am here."

"And the Princess…" Link trails off, still confused.

Sheik takes pity on him. "Her body guard Impa brought her to my hiding place when the fled from Ganondorf. Impa is my father's sister; the only living family I have. As you slept, she trained us both. We both had our own duties. I taught the Princess to disguise herself as me, to move and speak as I do. We both guided you – I greeted you once you woke. I waited for you in the Sacred Forest Meadow. In the Crater. At the Ice Cavern, and at the Lake. Once Zelda knew that Impa was the Sage of Shadow, she went to Kakariko. You met her there and thought it was me. And in the Desert… I thought it would be my final farewell to you. As you would know, it was Zelda who met you here after that. I returned to the shadows, having served my purpose. I was meant to stay there, by my own choice."

"But you didn't," Link says, sitting down heavily, his mind spinning. "You're here, talking to me."

"The last think I wish is to sound presumptuous, but I sense we are similar in some areas. For one, we are both lonely, by choice. It's a terrible feeling, don't you agree?"

"I'm not—" but Link cannot finish his protest, knowing Sheik's words are the truth. "I… I am not complaining that I am alone."

"Any struggle to the scale of that against Ganondorf results in lives being sacrificed," Sheik says. "Perhaps unfortunately, this doesn't necessarily mean these people die."

"Like you. The last of your kind, limited to the shadows," Link murmurs.

"Like you," Sheik replies. "Not of the forest, not of the town. Suspended somewhere in between."

Link says nothing and Sheik hesitates for the briefest moment before crossing over to sit beside him.

"If you need company…" Sheik begins and then pauses, unsure of whether to impose on the Hero of Time.

Link notices this immediately. "Someone to talk to? Now that you're… real, perhaps I can learn more about you than the fact that you play the lyre and disappear as suddenly as you appear."

"Indeed. Now that I have no need to disappear, perhaps I can rid myself of that habit." The smile is still hidden under cloth, but is clear in Sheik's voice. "I had thought to myself when I aided you in your quest that perhaps under better circumstances, you would be a good person to befriend. And now that the circumstances of our meeting are much better…"

Link smiles. "Friends, then."

*

  
Things are immediately better with company. Link doubts that Sheik's emergence goes unnoticed by the Princess, but she says nothing of it, simply stating that she is pleased to notice the improvement in his mood.

He meets Sheik at the back of the Temple of Time on a daily basis. At first, they simply sit there, their conversations echoing against the ancient walls. Then they begin to wander Hyrule, marvelling at the changes now the threat of evil has been removed. From the forest, to the mountain, to the lake and the desert, they take in the peace of their surroundings and speak their minds to each other.

One of their most common topics of conversation is wondering where they belong. Taking life one day at a time is a relaxing change from trying to save Hyrule as soon as possible, but they're both aware that they can't continue this way for long. Regardless of how many times Sheik tells himself that a Sheikah belongs in the shadows, he cannot tolerate this half existence, with Link being the only one who knows him beyond a name and a face in the crowd. And Link feels more restless as the days pass, aching to be doing something, anything that lets him feel like he is making a difference once again.

"Where did our lives go?" Link asks into the sky.

It's a bright day and they're in the desert, resting atop one of the stone structures near the Spirit Temple. Both dress for comfort over practicality these days, preferring light and loose material. Sheik leaves his face uncovered, though his clothing is always brown or grey, to disappear into crowds and shadows easily. Both lying on their backs on the flat stone surface, heads nearly resting against each other, they're comfortable in their shared company.

"Time," Sheik answers. "I spoke to you about time, back then. It's amazing, how different it can be to know something and to experience it."

"We've lost everything to… time," Link says, testing the way it sounds in words. He chuckles humourlessly. "Some Hero of Time."

"Not everything." Sheik doesn't need to say any more for Link to know he is referring to their friendship. "But it takes things, often without asking. You would know this best."

"And in its place?"

"Just a vacuum." Sheik spears his hands out in the air as if to express its vastness. "Nothingness. Just us, and whatever we have left."

"And I have… you." Link means for it to sounds like a question, but the way he says it makes it sound like a familiar fact.

"Yes. And I have you. Someday, we'll work out the rest. Until then, this will do."

Link shuts his eyes with a small smile. "Sounds good to me."

x

  



End file.
